Where There's a Will, There's a Way
by SiriusIsMyPuppy
Summary: What if there was a way to bring back the dead? A way that no one thought of before? When Remus's twin sister/Sirius's long-lost wife and children arrive at 12 Grimmauld Place to help the Order, they bring with them unexpected news and a big surprise.
1. Chapter 1

**Where There's a Will, There's a Way**

_By SiriusIsMyPuppy_

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing anyone recognises from Harry Potter; those plots, characters, places, etc. are solely the property of Ms. J. K. Rowling (a true literary genius). If you don't recognise it, it's most likely mine. _

**Summary: **What if there was a way to bring back the dead? A way that no one thought of before? When Remus's twin sister/Sirius's long-lost wife and children arrive at 12 Grimmauld Place to help the Order, they bring with them unexpected news and a big surprise.

**Chapter One**

'You see, Angella, what I've found is a way for you, in your own eyes, to redeem yourself to him. Perhaps, even, to your brother. I'm really not sure how he stands on that aspect. But, nonetheless, you're the only person who can help. I wouldn't dare ask another of your kind; they would trust me or the task I need done. But you…well, I know you would like to see this done. You will have to work with Severus, you understand that? And you can tell no one of what I'm having you do. I have already sworn your children to secrecy and they've agreed to help in whatever way they can. Please, accept this task I put to you, and perform it to the best of your ability, which I know to be of the utmost accomplishments.

Yours truly,

Albus Dumbledore'

Angella put the letter back on her desk. She knew what the Headmaster was asking of her, and was keen to get started on the project. There was only one problem: she was at the Vampyrik Academy in Berlin, Germany and he was at Hogwarts somewhere in the United Kingdom, as were the 'projects', for lack of a better term, that he wanted her to solve.

'Doro?'

A tall, dark haired, silver-eyed boy of sixteen poked his head around the library door.

'Yes, mother?' he asked, his tone that of mock boredom.

'Dumbledore just owled me. He says he spoke with you, Alli, and Trili about the task he wants done?'

'Yes,' he said, walking into the room and standing, with his hands folded in front of him, next to the doorframe.

'And the three of you have promised not to speak to anyone about it?'

'Yes.'

Angella sighed heavily. It was the sigh of a sad woman, kept waiting for so long for a chance to redeem herself in her husband's eyes; just to show him that she had never meant for any of it to happen. It had all been for the greater good. And besides, Tom had blackmailed her and threatened her family. What other choice had she had? She loved him more than life itself, but he had been too angry with her to hear reason, to hear her side of the story. Angella smiled softly to herself, a whispered chuckle escaping her lips.

'He always did have a bit of a temper…ran in his family,' she whispered, more to herself that to anyone in particular. She sighed again. 'That's one of the reasons I was so drawn to him…still am, as a matter of fact.'

'Umm…Mom?' Doro was still standing next to the doorframe. His hands were at his sides now and he was standing as someone who is a bit uncomfortable in a new place surrounded by new people; his posture spoke loudly of uncomfortableness.

Angella turned her head slightly so as to see her eldest son out of the corner of her eye. 'Yes, dear?'

'We're going to go and help, aren't we? I mean…Trili already thinks we are. She's got nearly her entire room packed into three bags. She's really excited, especially to see Dad, and, well, I mean…umm…It would crush her if we didn't get to go. If…if you decided that…that we weren't going back…I mean.'

She turned fully around in her chair this time, her eyes gleaming with welled up tears.

'Yes…we're going,' she said softly. 'Please, go and tell Headmistress Vivika and Bri`an that we are leaving for England once we are all packed. Make sure they understand that there will be no persuading us to stay. I don't expect Bri`an will understand…he will in due time, though. Go and tell them, now, please.'

'Yes, Mama.' And with that, the eldest of the triplets lovingly called The Trips, the one that looked most identical to his father, slipped out of the room, bowing to his mother.

Dumbledore paced his study, anxiously waiting for Angella's reply, even though he had just sent the owl flying out of his window into the starry night merely minutes ago.

_She'll accept it,_ he thought to himself. 'She has to,' he thought aloud.

'From what you've told me of this lady, Dumbledore, she wouldn't even allow herself to say no in her darkest of nightmares,' said a wheezy-voiced portrait on the wall behind the high-backed Headmaster's chair.

'This is true,' said Dumbledore thoughtfully, more to the room at large, than the portrait. 'I doubt she'll send me a reply back in letter form, though, knowing her. She always was one to keep others waiting on tenterhooks, but expects everyone to do as she wants promptly…' He sighed, smiling to himself. 'Well, at least it's clear why she and Sirius ended up together; they truly are the perfect couple. And soon…very soon, we'll have the other perfect couple, their opposites-but-doubles back, and things will almost be as they were before…'

'Trili? TRILI! Come on, would you? Mom says we've got to go NOW!'

'Jeez, Alli, could you be any more Doro-ish? I'm excited too, but holy shit!' Trili came loudly down the stairs, dragging three trunks behind her, each tied one to the other in a straight line, much like elephants on a long journey travelling trunk-to-tail. 'And besides, Mom wouldn't leave without me, and I'm not leaving without my stuff, so…' She stuck her tongue out at her older brother as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

'I wouldn't be so sure about that, Tri,' said Doro as he came out of a door to the right of the stairs, closing it behind him. 'Remember that one time, when we were late getting to Hogwarts when the Academy was visiting for a bit, because we had to come back and get you. Mom had forgotten you because you slept in and Alli still had long hair, so she thought he was him and you all at the same time?' He and Alli started laughing at the memory as Trili stalked off, dragging her trunk-train behind her.

'Come on, you three! We've got to be at the Portkey in less than five minutes and this time, there won't be a coming back to get anybody!' came Angella's voice from down the hall.

'Coming, Mom!' called Alli and Doro in unison, rushing off towards her voice in the same direction Trili and her trunks had gone, they only carrying one trunk each.

They arrived at the Portkey with a minute and an half to spare. Angella laughed inwardly to herself at the site of what the old Headmaster had chosen as their mode of transportation: a tattered old cloak with a cliché-vampire neck piece. The outer fabric was black, the inner red. 'He really does have jokes,' she mumbled.

'It's slightly offending, Mom. I don't think it's funny,' Doro said to her right. His voice was prideful and slightly appalled.

'Well, there's no use standing her griping about it. Grab a hold, and keep a firm grip on your bags. I don't think they'll go flying off in the wrong direction, but I've never travelled by Portkey with luggage before. Trili, you might want All to grab the end of your last trunk in his other hand, just to be on the safe side. Okay, ready? Grab a hold, Doro, grab a hold! I can't come back and get you once we're there…ok, anytime now…yes, one…two…'

_YANK!_

And they were off, zooming over Western Europe, over the Channel, to the north of the UK, and finally landing with a jolt in Dumbledore's office. He, Professors McGonagall, Sinistra, Snape, and Flitwick were waiting for them.

'Ah, Angella, children. We've been expecting you,' said Dumbledore with a smile.

'Professors. How are you?' Angella replied, nodding to each in turn and shaking Dumbledore's hand.

'I'm so very glad you've decided to accept my offer, Angella. I really had no one else to ask…'

'I know, Dumbledore, I know. I'm just glad to have the chance…I wouldn't have said no, if my reputation or citizenship within the Community had depended on it. I'd rather have my family back…_all_ of my family…'


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_A/N: Okay, so I forgot to put this at the beginning of the first chapter, so I'm putting it at the beginning of this one – This story has been developing in my mind for years now, ever since I read the fifth book, and it became so insistent recently that I decided to share it with the rest of the fanfiction literary world. Please, review and subscribe if you like it, and all constructive criticism is appreciated ad encouraged. Thanks!_

'What if nothing's changed between them, Remus? What if he's still mad at her and isn't afraid to show it…takes it out on the children?' whispered Mrs Weasley frantically.

Remus shook his head. 'He regrets ever sending them away. I never told him that they stayed with me for three years before heading off to Berlin. As far as he knows, they're still at the Academy hating him for turning them away; he doesn't know that his children idolise him like some distant demi-god. I don't think he'll be angry – if anything, he'll fall to his knees at their feet, bawling his eyes out uncontrollably and then deny it later. He does still have his pride, even if it seems a bit diminished now.'

He sighed and a thoughtful expression spread across his prematurely-aged features. 'I still have the letter Angie sent me when she'd heard he'd broken out of Azkaban. She was afraid that he'd come looking for her and the children…to take them away from her. I assured her that that wasn't on his mind and that I never thought in a million years that he'd fathom taking the triplets from her….She used to cry herself to sleep at night, when they were staying with me in London. All three of them are the spitting image of him…stupid, bloody git…the only way you can tell there was a woman involved at all is because Tri is a girl.' He chuckled at this. 'No, Molly, I think he'll be overjoyed to have them here, and the rest of us should be as well. Maybe he'll mope less…What is it she always used to call him when he was pouting because he didn't get his way? A prima donna. That's what it was. Ha!'

A nervous smile graced Mrs Weasley's face. 'Well, I guess we'll just stay optimistic. We'll see how things go when they get here. Should be anytime now, shouldn't it?'

Remus nodded, taking a sip of his wine. 'Yes, I believe so. Shouldn't be too much longer now.'

Angella stood in Dumbledore's office rubbing her left forearm nervously.

'Mom, would you calm the hell down? It's going to be fine!' Doro chastised.

Angella sighed exasperatedly. 'That's what you think!' she hissed. 'You were only two the last time we saw your father. If there was ever a man that could hold a grudge, it was Sirius fucking Black!'

Dumbledore entered the room at this point, causing Angella to cover her mouth suddenly, looking thunderstruck. 'Headmaster, I'm so sorry…!' she began.

Dumbledore held up his hand. 'Alas, Angella, I had just had one of my bouts of sudden deafness and did not hear what it is you are apologising for,' he said with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

Angella grinned back. She had always admired the old man for his feigning 'deafness' at quite opportune times, even when she had been a transfer student at Hogwarts, studying wizardry and wizard ways from a Vampyrik point of view.

'Well, now,' said Dumbledore clapping his hands once and rubbing them together, 'I think we should be off. Can any of you Apparate?' he asked looking at Doro, Alli, and Trili in turn.

Doro nodded. 'We can, but Mom can't. Never has been able to do that kind of thing…Poor Mom. She can make a Patronus without a wand in sight though! Ow! Son of a Dragula! What was that for?' Angella had backhanded him across the back of his head.

'For pointing out your mother's flaws when you should be commemorating her exceptionally smashing points!' she said with mock sternness. 'But it's true, Headmaster, I can't Apparate. I can't even Side-Along Apparate.' She looked down sadly. 'I can teleport though!' she said, suddenly remembering her magnificent abilities with Vampyrik magick. 'It's different that Apparating because I can take anything with me that I think about. I could take everything in this room if I wanted to.' She smiled, obviously pleased with herself.

'That's very well, Angella. If you all will please follow me down to Hogsmeade station, we will depart from there,' said the Headmaster, sweeping around them and holding the door open for them.

The marched out of the room, Trili dragging her three trunks behind her and causing a great racket. Angella was surprised the entire school wasn't standing at the foot of the moving staircase wondering what all the banging like a bored troll was from.

'Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Arthur! Remus! Kingsley! They're here, oh they're here! Would you three get down her please!' called Mrs Weasley from the second landing, trying hard to restrain her voice so as not to wake up the portraits in the hall below.

'Coming, Molly, dear,' came Mr Weasley's voice from the next landing up as Remus and Kingsley descended the stairs to meet her.

'Dumbledore's come with them,' Molly whispered to Remus as he passed. He nodded slightly in reply.

The four of them grouped around the front door as the many locks and chains clicked and clanked to allow the door to open. Doro and his siblings entered first, followed by their mother with Dumbledore taking up the rear. Once the door was shut and secured behind them, Dumbledore made his way forward. 'Well, here they are, our long-awaited arrivals,' he said smiling. 'Molly, I trust all the arrangements have been taken care of?'

'Oh, yes, Dumbledore, everything is set.'

'Excellent.' He clapped his hands together. 'Now, I don't want to have to get a report, _any_ report, that there has been a racial or species-oriented kerfuffle, understand?' His countenance was stern and he was looking specifically at Doro who nodded stiffly and kurtly, not taking his narrowed eyes off Remus. 'Good. Now then, I'll be joining everyone for dinner this evening just to make sure everyone assimilates into the house well and then I'll be off. Angella here has informed me of some wrongdoings on my own part that I wish to rectify, and I think that's that.' He looked around at them all, beaming.

'Angella, dear, if you'd like, I'll show you and the children to your rooms before we go down to start making dinner?' said Mrs Weasley gently.

Angella smiled. 'That'd be wonderful, Molly. And call me Angie, please. Angella just sounds so formal being used all the time.'

The two women smiled at each other and made their way towards the stairs leading up to the rest of the house. 'I hope you don't mind where I've put you, dear. No one's using the room and I didn't think you'd object until I'd already tidy it up…' They stopped in front of a door on the third landing with an old tarnished name plate reading SIRIUS on it.

Angella gasped as she looked at it. She hadn't been in that room in over two decades, not since before Sirius had run away to the Potter's. She noticed Molly looking at her concernedly. 'It's perfect,' she said managing what she thought must be a very unconvincing smile.

Molly beamed back, clearly thankful that she hadn't upset their newest guests. As Angie made her way into the room with its familiar Muggle posters of girls in bikinis and Harleys, and Gryffindor banners plastered along every inch of wall, Molly lead The Trips up yet another staircase and into a large room with a high ceiling that had two wardrobes and three twin-sized beds made in it.

'I hope you three don't mind all bunking in one room, but there really wasn't anywhere else to put you. We weren't expecting to be joined by four more people as almost-permanent residents.'

'It's alright, Mrs Weasley. Alli and I bunk together at the Academy. Tri's too much of a princess to have anything but her own room there, but I'm sure she'll be happy to oblige here. _Won't_ you, Tri?' Doro replied looking pointedly at his sister who looked a bit crestfallen.

'Of course!' she said over-joyously, her face quickly snapping into a brilliant and convincing smile.

'Well, I'll leave you all to unpack then. When you're finished, we eat down in the basement kitchen,' said Mrs Weasley as she exited the room, closing the door softly behind her.

'It's my house, Remus! I want to know who's here and who's so important that Dumbledore is staying for dinner!' boomed Sirius across the table. He was standing at one end, his back to the door, leaning on the surface of the table, yelling at his best friend who was seated at the other end.

Remus took a slow drink of his white wine and pondered his answer for a moment. 'You'll see when they come down. They're going to be staying here with you to help me keep you company, and I don't think an angry host is the best way to go about greeting them, do you?' He looked up at his school friend with a meaningful look.

Sirius sighed heavily and huffily slumped into the chair behind him, staring moodily at the fire beside the werewolf. Crossing his arms and looking quite pouty, he crossed his ankles on the surface of the table and waited for the new additions to the household, grumbling under his breath and sighing heavily every now and then.

Remus chuckled under his breath and whispered, 'Prima donna,' just audible enough to think that Sirius might hear.

Sirius's eyes lit up at the words; they held so much more meaning than anyone could ever know…anyone but Remus. She was his twin after all…but she couldn't be here. She hated him, he knew it. Why would she come to help when she hadn't even been in contact to make his life hell after what he'd done to her and their three toddlers fourteen years ago.

At that point, the kitchen door opened slowly and a refreshed-looking Angie walked slowly and timidly in. She forced herself not to look at her husband, not to make eye contact, as she walked purposefully towards her brother and sat down facing him on the opposite side of the table. Sirius looked quite taken aback, especially as three spitting images of him walked in behind her, talking animatedly amongst themselves. One, the shortest, only just taller than Angie's five foot three inches, had pin straight hair down to the backs of her knees and quite a developed figure. The other two, one a few inches shorter than he, the other about an inch taller than he, had his unpolished-silver eyes, his jaw bone, his cheek bones….even had his posture when they sat down and leaned back in their chairs, their conversation never skipping a beat.

'Oh, hi, Dad!' said the tallest from his seat next to Angella. He waved merrily before continuing his third of the chat with his siblings.

The younger two, smiled and waved at him jovially before resuming their discussion.

'I just don't see why you two don't try out for the Guild. Hunting is one of the most prestigious opportunities in the Community, and you're both bloody fucking excellent at it.'

'Because it would be a slight against our family, D,' replied Alli, looking gratefully at his uncle who smiled weakly back at him.

'No it sure the hell would not!' said Doro heatedly. 'All, what the hell are you talking about? We've got one mutt in our family and he was born Independent, so what the…'

'That's enough, boys,' Angie said softly. Her tone was menacing but also weak, as if she didn't want to be heard. Truth was, she was hoping _he_ hadn't recognised her and she thought that if he didn't hear her voice, he would continue to be ignorant of whom she was.

Sirius sat frozen in his chair. He had a look of utter shock and surprise on his face and his mouth was hanging halfway open. He could feel the tears growing and welling up and burning in his eyes, but he willed them, albeit only half-heartedly, not to start cascading down his face. It had been so very long since he'd seen his family – since they'd been able to be a real family. He was ecstatic that they'd have that chance again, even if it meant that all five of them would be cooped up in this gods-forsaken house with no one else but Kreacher and sometimes Remus for company. He loved Remus, but he could tell by the way Doro was talking that his amiability towards his friend was shared with at least one other person. He remembered how Angie, back before everything had gone so wrong, wouldn't even allow him in the house – not even after his nephews and niece had been born. _I won't let someone like _him_ near my children, Sirius! I'm not having it! It's horrible!_ she had told him when he'd said that her brother was coming to visit to meet the new additions. _You're horrible, Angella!_ he had replied. _He's your brother, for Merlin's sake! Doesn't that mean anything?_ She had stomped out of the room angrily at that and locked herself in the upstairs bathroom. He had known she was crying, fighting an inner struggle with herself over what was more important, her reputation with her people as a no-mercy-shown, no-questions-asked, kick-all-lycan-ass-in-sight type of Hunter with the Guild; or be the little twin sister, attached to her big brother at the hip because she adored and idolised him so much.

It had taken her several months to get over this, and eventually her sibling side had won out. The row that followed between her and her Dragula, Bri`an had been the worst she'd ever had. Sirius had walked in at a must inopportune time: just in time to see Bri`an hit his wife across the face, erupting in the darkest bruises and the most blood he had ever seen from one person in his life, and that included people he'd known who'd duelled with Death Eaters and won the fight.

'…are you alright? Sirius, mate, you don't look so good – looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?'

Fred's voice sounded far off and distant, but came into clearer focus as Sirius's attention was drawn reluctantly back to the present. 'I'm fine, man, thanks though,' he said grinning half-heartedly.

He continued to try to catch Angie's eye all throughout dinner, but she was making a very successful attempt to avoid him at all costs. She even managed to make her way around the other side of the table when they'd both gotten up to get more drinks at the same time.

_Blimey, that woman hate my ass,_ Sirius thought to himself when this had happened.

_He's trying to corner me,_ thought Angie.

Remus, picking up that the both of them just knew in their hearts that the other couldn't have anything but contempt for them, decided to make everyone switch seats. He informed everyone else at the table, who apparently had noticed as well, to make sure that the only two seats left were next to each other so that his sister and his best mate would be forced to sit side by side. 'And nobody talk to them,' Dumbledore had added, taking a particularly keen interest in this plan. When everyone looked at him quizzically, he added, 'So that the only people they'll be able to talk to will be each other.'

There was a chorus of understanding 'ohhhhhs' at this, before Remus announced that everyone need to stand up and sit somewhere else. Angella and Sirius were the first to make a run for opposite ends of the table, but, somehow, everyone else was faster, no matter how hard they tried. Finally, they were forced to sit together – Sirius in his usual chair at the head of the table, Angella on his right. They picked at their food nervously, trying to make conversation with anyone else but each other.

This went on for another fifteen minutes before Dumbledore stood up and raised his glass. 'To family,' was all he said for his toast, but his pointed looks at Doro, Sirius, and Angie made at least the latter two understand that there was no hope but to make the best of it, and by the gods, they were going to rock the shit out of it.

_A/N: A very huge thanks to everyone who read the first chapter and subscribed to the story. Remember, the more you read/subscribe/review, the sooner I'll post! If there's enough, I may get a few chapters done in one day! _


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

_A/N: Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. It's going to kick off with this chapter. I just wanted to get a bit of history to the story with the first two. Thanks for reading! Remember, review and subscribe if you like it; and any constructive criticism is encouraged! Thanks! _

After dinner Dumbledore took Remus out into the hall to talk while the Trips and Angie helped Molly and Arthur clear away what was left of their meal. Alli and Trili were having a food fight behind the adults' and their older brother's backs before Angie caught on and told them that if they threw one more piece of food at anyone or anything they'd be scrubbing the kitchen clean. Other than that, it wasn't very eventful. Sirius had gone upstairs – Remus had assumed that he went up to his mother's bedroom where he kept Buckbeak.

_Most likely sulking_, he had thought as he watched his best friend's back retreating out of the kitchen. 'Dumbledore's just left,' he said as he returned to the kitchen, grabbing the last of the plates off the table and putting them in the sink where the other dishes were washing themselves.

Mrs Weasley sighed tiredly. 'Well, I think that's everything, dears. I'll be going up to make sure the rest of the children have gone to bed, and then I'll be retiring myself. Good night, Angie…children.' She smiled at them all as she left the room.

'How're you doing?' Remus asked Angie softly as he helped her put the last of the pots on their hooks.

'Fine...fine,' Angie replied offhandedly. 'A little…shaken up, but I'll be alright. At least he and the children get to see each other.'

'You should talk to him, Angella – set the story straight. I'm not sure what he believes now, whether it is what he thought then or not. But you should go talk to him. Go on, I'll take care of the rest of this.' He gently waved her away.

Upstairs, Sirius was pacing his mother's bedroom, watched by a confusedly interested Buckbeak who was munching on dead rats in the corner next to the canopied four poster, once so grand but now seemingly derelict with moth- and doxy-eaten curtains. After a few more minutes of pacing, with only the sound of crunching rat bones in the background, Sirius stopped in the middle of the room.

'She wouldn't even _look_ at me,' he said woefully to Buckbeak.

The hippogriff clicked his beak in response and went about eating.

'Can't say that I blame her,' he added thoughtfully, now talking to himself. 'I was such an ass…and then I had to go track down Peter. I don't think I even told her. She must've been so upset…'

He stopped mid-sentence; there was a soft knock on the door. He crossed the room in a few hesitant strides and cracked the door just enough to see out. Angella stood on the other side, examining her feet and wringing her hands.

'I…I thought I might come up and chat,' she said, not meeting his gaze. 'If you don't mind,' she added hurriedly.

'Not at all.' He opened the door fully now to allow her to step inside. _Well, this is a change of circumstances,_ he thought as Angella sat down on the edge of the bed, looking ready for flight.

'How…how are you?' Sirius asked uncharacteristically timidly.

'I'm living,' she replied. 'Been teaching at the Academy. They let me and the kids stay there. No sense for us to live somewhere else when we all have business there.'

'Yeah…about that. I told you I didn't want them going there. They should be going to Hogwarts.'

'Well, we hadn't exactly planned on being kicked out of our own house in the middle of the night, had we?' Her tone was more forceful now, and she spoke louder. If he was going to bring this up, she was going to throw it right back in his face. See how he felt being made to feel like the low-life she had felt like all those years ago. 'Do you remember, it was pouring down rain? They were two years old, Sirius, and it was midnight. Did you even hear them crying? Did you hear them asking me where we were going and why Daddy wasn't coming with us? Why Daddy was yelling? Why was I only packing our stuff and not yours, too?'

'Don't you give me the guilt trip, Angella! I'm not the one that went and sold my soul…!'

'I didn't _sell my soul_, Sirius! Haven't you asked _anyone_ what really happened? Haven't you had the balls to actually admit that you were wrong?'

He yanked her left arm up in the air and shoved her sleeve back revealing the red outline of the Dark Mark on her forearm. 'That. _That _is why I made you leave…'

'But they were two years old, Sirius! TWO! And you kicked them out, too! You know, we walked – _walked_ halfway across London, in the rain, in the cold, with all our things, to Remus's? Did he ever tell you that?' She yanked her arm out of his grasp and stood up, looking him in the eyes angrily.

'I came here to make things right, Sirius Orion Black, and if me and my children aren't welcome then we can just take our merry asses back to the Academy where we're appreciated!' She began to stomp towards the door. Buckbeak was looking back and forth between them, as if watching some heated tennis match. They seemed to have interrupted his meal.

'Don't you walk away from me!' Sirius called after her.

'Oh, that sounds real manly,' Angie replied sarcastically rolling her eyes as she placed her hand on the doorknob.

Sirius crossed the room in two strides, grabbed her hand, flung her around, and held her against him. 'I don't want you to leave,' he said softly.

Angie's eyes softened but her face was still stern. 'And why not?'

Sirius sighed. 'I'm sorry. I'm happy you're here. I'm happy the children are here. We can be a real family again…no, I mean a _real_ family. Most people couldn't say they have both their parents and all their children. Some have died, others got divorced, others affected by the war in one way or another. But, us. We're a _real_ family, Angie. Don't take that away from me again. Please.'

Angie's face softened to match her eyes at this and she laid her head on his chest. 'I do have one bone to pick with you though.'

'What's that, love?'

'Why the hell are you wearing your _father's_ clothes? It's creepy and slightly disturbing.'

Sirius laughed his characteristic bark-like laughter. 'I didn't have anything else to wear that would fit. What d'you want me to do, walk around naked?'

Angie perked up. 'That's not a bad idea,' she said grinning mischievously.

'Well, there are other people that live her, too, dear, and I don't think Molly or Remus would appreciate it if I walked around starking all the time.'

They both chuckled. 'At least tell me you don't sleep in your mom's room. It's awfully dank in here.'

Sirius shook his head, his chin on the top of her head. 'No. I haven't lost my mind that much. I sleep in one of the guest rooms the next floor down. Too many memories I never thought I'd relive in my room.'

Angie sighed and nodded. 'I understand.'

'Do you think they've stopped fighting?' Trili asked Doro as they and Alli were unpacking their room, putting their things in the wardrobes.

'I don't hear them yelling anymore,' replied Alli, stopping and cocking his head to one side to listen.

They had heard their mother and father's raised and muffled voices trailing down the stairs only minutes earlier.

'I bet they're making up,' said Doro with a twisted smile.

'Oh! D! That's disgusting!' Alli and Trili chimed.

'Well. What would you do after not seeing your significant other for fourteen years and just getting all your resentment towards them off your chest?'

'I'd beat them to a bloody fucking pulp, is what _I'd_ do,' said Trili airily, putting one of her low-cut tank-tops on a hanger and hanging it in the wardrobe at the end of the bed she claimed as hers.

'Me, too,' Alli agreed, pulling a pair of jeans out of his trunk and throwing them into the wardrobe opposite Trili's.

'Well, I guess you two aren't as like Dad as we all thought. I'd screw them till all hell broke loose.'

'Just because you and dad've got the libidos of a couple of American college kids doesn't mean we all do, D,' said Alli laughing. Trili looked slightly put off.

Doro shrugged. 'Suit yourselves. I'd only kick the other person's ass if they were a sibling or a cousin or a friend or something. Not my wife or girlfriend.'

There was a knock on the door and Fred and George entered. 'Sorry. Mum wanted us to come and tell you all to lock your door when you go to sleep tonight. In case Kreacher comes in and starts snooping.'

'What's Kreacher?' asked Doro with a wrinkled nose.

'He's the mad old house-elf that lives here.'

'House-elf?' Alli asked incredulously.

Doro looked at him meaningfully but with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

'Yeah. And he keeps stealing stuff we're trying to throw out to try and save it. He's a mad, old git. Just be sure to lock your door, if you don't want your knickers strung all over the room when you wake up.' And the twins left, leaving the door slightly open. Fred poked his head back in. 'And when your mum comes back down, could you tell her Dumbledore just sent her a letter, please? Thanks.'

'Angella,

I will be sending for you around this time tomorrow evening. Please be prepared to begin your task and know that I am very appreciative of your cooperation. Severus will be coming to retrieve you as he will be giving a report at the meeting anyway. Remember, not a word to anyone.

Yours truly,

Albus Dumbledore'

Angie sighed and put down the letter. She wished the butterflies in her stomach would go away. So this was it – well, almost. The moment before the moment she had been waiting for. She was still confused on why Severus Snape, of all people, would be helping her. From what she remembered, he should be loathing the fact that this was even going to happen. She shrugged at the thought. It didn't matter. What mattered, is that this time tomorrow she would be helping to achieve something that no one ever thought would be possible. Why no one had thought to use a vampire before, she didn't know. But then again, it had never crossed her mind before, either.

_A/N: Okay, so this chapter didn't turn out the way I hoped it would. There should have been more kerfuffling in Sirius and Angei's kerfuffle, but I think my Muse is on strike again so you can blame them. (I'm not sure if it's a boy Muse or girl Muse…unisex?) Anyway, it's not the greatest, but we're getting up to this mysterious project so woohoo! Review and subscribe, lovies! Thanks!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The next morning, when Angie and the Trips woke up, there was such a din in the house that, at first, the Trips thought they were under attack. Mrs Black's portrait was screaming its painted-head off, joined by quite an inharmonious chorus of the other portraits occupying the hallway on the ground floor. As Angie walked down the stairs she could hear Hermione's cat, whom she had learned was named Crookshanks, which she thought suited him quite well considering his bow-legged hind legs, hissing from a wicker basket on top of his owner's trunk; and Pigwidgeon and Hedwig were hooting loudly and indignantly from atop their respective owners' trunks. All he animal and portrait noise combined with Mrs Weasley's frantic shouting and everyone else's talking over each other to be heard from opposite sides of the room or house made for a very battlefield-like uproar indeed.

'What the fuck's going on, Mom!' Alli shouted in Angie's hear after she mimed that she couldn't hear him the first time he'd asked.

'I think everyone's leaving for school!' she shouted back. Alli nodded his understanding before pushing his way towards the door to the basement kitchen to fix something for breakfast; Angie, Trili and Doro followed.

A few minutes after all the noise had died down upstairs, Sirius stalked into the kitchen. Much to Angella's chagrin, he was still wearing his father's old robes. They really didn't look that bad on him, he actually looked quite spiffing, but she found it slightly awkward because he looked so much like the snob-nosed, so-called-sophisticated aristocratic epitome that he had always tried so hard to distance himself from. She crinkled her nose at the thought and turned away.

'What was _that_ look for?' Sirius asked, slightly harshly.

'Nothing,' she replied, shaking her head but still not looking at him. 'And what's that _tone_ for?'

'Nothing.'

'Well, you two have just absolutely engrossing conversations, don't you?' Doro piped up, sounding slightly disgusted. 'What time are you leaving tonight, Mom?'

_'Shhhh!_' Angie hissed, flapping her hands at him to make him stop talking.

'Oh.'

'You're leaving?' Sirius looked up from his _Daily Prophet_ looking slightly frightened. 'Wh- why?'

'I have some business to attend to with Dumbledore. That's all you need to know right now. I'm not at liberty to discuss it.'

Sirius grumbled something about being left out, to which Angie and all three of the kids chimed, 'Prima donna,' in unison. Everyone at the table laughed.

'So…um…Dad, we, that is, Alli, Trili, and I, thought that maybe we could play some music for you since you've never heard us perform.'

The three siblings looked down the table hopefully at their semi-estranged father, who looked like Christmas and his birthday had come early and on the same day.

'You guys play music?' He sounded incredulous.

'Yeah. Mom said that it was always your guys' dream for us to play your wedding song or something. I figured we could play that one first. Only thing is, we can't play with low volume. We have to have some kind of playback from ourselves or Trili gets the beat all wrong. She's the drummer,' Alli said, receiving a back-handed smack on the arm from his sister. 'Well, you do!'

'Do not.'

'I'd love to hear you guys play. We can go up in my Mum's bedroom. I don't _think_ Buckbeak would mind and it's far enough from the ground floor that it'll be muffled. Did you bring your equipment or whatever? Where is it?'

'Well, see, the only problem is that it's all electrical. Needs plug-ins…I didn't think about that.' Doro's face fell, and soon after so did everyone else's.

'Oh…well, that…uh…poses a problem here…What the- ?'

Everyone looked up towards the ceiling – a rhythmic buzzing noise was coming from somewhere above them.

'That's mine!' Angie said, racing out of the room and knocking two chairs flying over it the process.

Sirius looked at his children. 'What is it, her vibrator?'

Alli and his chair toppled backwards, roaring with laughter. 'No! It's her phone!' he cackled from under the table. Trili and Doro looked at each other, the expressions in their eyes screaming that they swore they weren't related to the teenager now rolling on the floor laughing his guts up. Sirius smiled; he felt like he hadn't missed very much if he could sit in his parent's kitchen, of all places, and talk with his children about their mom's sex life…_Wait, does she have a 'sex life'?_ he asked himself all of a sudden…

He hadn't bothered to ask if she'd been with anyone. He hadn't, but there was a reason for that. She had always let him go off and have some one-night stand or a week-long mistress to get his frustrations or tensions out on, or in rather, and then ask him if the other woman had been better than her. After the first couple of times she asked this, he learned to say 'no' every time, whether it was a lie or not, although most of the time, 8 times out of 10, it was the truth. She knew how to get to him, how to get under his skin; that was why he chose to settle down, as it were, with her. Although they had never really settled. And, after all, his mind was still in his early twenties, even if his face looked a bit more…experienced.

Angie came back in the kitchen talking into a small, rounded-rectangular, red device she was holding to her ear. 'No, no, I'm in London. I can't come to the meeting now. I have to be _here_…._Because_, Bri`an, Dumbledore asked for my help and I'm not giving up on this. I'm not leaving here to go to some bullshit meeting that _you_ think _I_ need to be at, and fuck up my chances of….No, _you shut up_! I'm not dealing with this, B! I'm not!...Whatever I'm hanging up the phone, now. Good-bye, Bri`an…Good-bye….Good-fucking-bye!' She tossed the phone down on the table in front of her seat and grasped the back of the chair so tightly her knuckles turned white; her face was slightly flushed.

'What meeting, Mom?' Alli asked, rather boldly Sirius thought.

'Oh, some stupid Hunter's meeting with the Guild or whatever. I'm not going. I'm not! He can kiss my fat, white ass, but I'm not going.' She slumped down in the chair with a huff.

'You're not fat! Who told you you were fat? And what _is_ that thing?' asked Sirius before nearly jumping out of his chair as the cell phone began to vibrate, buzz, and dance along the table towards the edge, lighting up.

'Ugh, he's calling me back! I swear to the Gods, if my phone had enough memory left to block is FRIGGING number… ugh, I'll have to answer it or he'll blow it up.' She hit the answer button rather hard and shoved the device back to the side of her head.

'HELL-OH!'

Sirius and the Trips could hear a man shouting on the other end of the phone. Sirius looked around trying to find out where the voice was coming from; Trili pointed to Angie's ear.

'It's a phone,' she informed him. 'Kind of like talking via Floo, only without the powder and the fireplace.'

'Oh.' Sirius nodded, but wasn't really sure he grasped the concept.

'No, B, I told you I'm not going!...I don't care! I'm staying here were I promised I'd be, I'm going to finish what Dumbledore wants me to do, and then I'm not really that sure if the kids and I will be coming back to Germany, especially after…Ai! Ich gehe nicht! Nein! Nein, du…du….Ai! Nein, fick diese Scheiβe! Auf Wiedersehen…Ai, Bri`an, Nai….' And she was off ranting in some language Sirius had heard before but didn't understand a lick of. He knew at first she had been yelling in German, and this sounded pretty close to that, but it also sounded French, Russian, and some other form of Slavic all at once. He shook his head and walked out of the kitchen, beckoning Doro to follow him.

Out in the hall, Sirius turned to his eldest son. 'Why is she still talking to him?' he asked angrily. He couldn't fathom why _his_ wife would still be talking to the man that she had sought refuge with him from. He'd seen the scars all over her torso and arms from what he'd done to her before they'd met. He remembered he'd been amazed that anyone could do that to a person so beautiful and funny and sweet; given, she did have that temper of hers, but the fact that anyone could manage to hurt her the way that asshole had…it had blown his mind.

'Well, she kind of has to, doesn't she? He's her boss and the guy that turned her into a Vampyre when she was little. She's answerable to him for the rest of his or her unnatural lives. I'm surprised she's managing to tell him 'no', especially as much as she is. I'd think she'd have given in by now. Wasn't too long ago that she was worshiping the flecks of dust that graced his bedroom floor.' Doro shrugged as if this was no odd occurance.

Sirius stood rooted to the spot, stiff as marble, his blood pulsing through him on a raging course he was sure would make his heart explode. _The dust on his bedroom floor?_ He couldn't imagine that monster touching _his_ Angie. He pushed past Doro and marched angrily back into the kitchen, slamming the door open and against the wall as he went. Angie had just hung up her cell again and turned it off before putting it on the counter by the sink. Sirius grabbed her hand, turned on the spot, and dragged her out of the kitchen and up to the drawing room. He pushed her inside first and closed the door and locked it behind him before turning towards her with his arms crossed and a more-than-stern look on his face.

'What – THE fuck – was that?'

'What do you mean?'

'_That_! That ranting and raving…no...no…I can understand that. What the hell are you even doing talking to _him_?'

'I have to, Sirius, you know that!' Fuck. They were shouting again. Angie had hoped that it wouldn't be like this when they saw each other again. Of course, she had only fathomed their reunion in her dreams, and all of those had ended in them being back at their old house with toddlers still running around, back before they had lost nearly everyone and everything.

'The flying fuck, you do! You are _my_ wife, Angella Night, and I'll be _DAMNED_ if I let anyone, especially that…that…._him_ hurt you ever again, _let alone come near you_!'

Angie sighed and sat down on the dusty loveseat, puffs of cloud wafting up as she did. 'Sirius, I don't want to fight with you. I'm not going to the meeting, I'm staying here. What more could you ask for.' She sounded tired and in truth, she was. She was tired of fighting with Bri`an; tired of fighting with Sirius; tired of fighting with Doro over whether or not her werewolf twin-brother had any rights or not; tired of trying to keep balance between her two lives and her two worlds. _It'll all be better soon,_ she kept telling herself. But afterwards, she'd always wonder if it would be. Would Sirius be mad at her for not doing anything about their friends' deaths before? She hadn't known she could be the solution and neither had Dumbledore. He couldn't blame her for that; but he could sure as hell try.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day went by like an extremely tense blur. Alli and Sirius found Trili crying in an upstairs bedroom a little before dinner. When they asked her what was wrong she just looked up at them in turn, bawling the more when her eyes met Sirius's.<p>

'I think she's upset because you guys were fighting again – you and Mom,' Alli had said when they'd left the room and shut the door behind them, through which Trili could still be heard sobbing.

Sirius sighed heavily. 'I don't want to fight with your mother, she's just so…I don't know…. I mean, we always had our little occasional tiffs and such before, yelling at each other and then making up later with dinner and…well…' He trailed off. 'But you guys used to laugh at us. It was so cute.' He chuckled a bit at the memory of three toddler-sized replicas of himself pointing and laughing and him and Angie when they'd yell and get in each other's faces. 'We'd look over at you guys sitting on the couch pointing and giggling and we'd just smile and the fight would be over, forgotten for the rest of the day, until you went to bed and we'd sneak upstairs to our room.'

Alli nodded. He thought he could almost remember a time like that, just before Sirius had found out that Voldemort had blackmailed Angie into becoming a Death Eater. She was the only Vampyre that he held any sway over, and it was all because she was married to a wizard, a son of the House of Black, of all things, and they had small children. He had threatened to kill them, all four of them, in front of her. Did Sirius know? Alli wasn't sure, but he didn't think his father knew the whole story. He was about to ask if anyone had told Sirius when Remus came up the stairs.

'Molly and Angie say to get down to the kitchen if you want to eat anything before the food's all gone. Doro's down there scarfing down everything in sight. Snape hasn't shown yet, so we're having the meeting after dinner.' He turned and walked back down the stairs, looking over his shoulder to see Sirius and his middle son following him, talking as if they'd never been apart. He smiled to himself at this. _Well, at least the kids aren't holding anything against him_, he thought as they entered the kitchen.

Mr and Mrs Weasley, Tonks, Doro and Angie were already seated at the table, their plates piled with food, chattering away. Angella looked up when the guys entered and her face slightly fell when she spotted Sirius. She had taken a seat between Molly and Tonks, feeling that the feminine company would help ease her mood of uneasiness; when Sirius sat down and grumpily pulled a plate and some roast chicken towards him she looked down at her food, playing with it with her fork, seeming to have lost her appetite.

'I think I'll go get my stuff together for when Severus and I are ready to go,' she said, getting up from the table and leaving the room, not making eye contact with anyone.

Sirius sighed, pushed his plate away, and followed her up the stairs.

* * *

><p>When Angie and Sirius came back downstairs for the meeting about half an hour later, Angie's eyes were red and puffy as if she'd been crying and Sirius looked dazed, like he'd been smacked. A red mark on the left side of his face told Remus that, indeed, Angie had let him have it.<p>

When his sister sat down next to him, avoiding his eyes, he leaned over and whispered in her ear, 'What happened?'

Angie shook her head. 'Nothing. Just the usual. We were arguing and he accidentally backed be up against the wall and I couldn't move and my breath felt strangled. I reacted sooner than I could think and smacked him. I think he forgot that I don't like being in tight spaces with a man yelling at me. He apologised and left the room. That's it.' She shrugged and twiddled her thumbs for a few minutes before Snape swept into the kitchen, his usual black robes billowing like a bat out of hell.

Angie found the meeting to be a bit of a dull bore. She had already heard everything Snape informed everyone else of about Voldemort's movements, because he was doing almost the same thing he did last time, with only a few unexpected twists. He wasn't looking for Vampyres to join him, but he'd managed to rile up several dens of werewolves, which made Angie squirm uncomfortably in her seat, and she noticed Remus did the same.

* * *

><p>Afterwards, she said her goodbyes and went to wait for Snape by the front door. He wasn't long and soon they were standing in Dumbledore's office again; they had travelled by Portkey, as well. Angie noticed that behind Dumbledore's desk, slightly covered by a crimson sheet, were two pine boxes, each about six feet long and two and an half inches thick. Her breath caught in her throat somewhere around her Adam's Apple as her butterflies in her stomach started fluttering violently again.<p>

'Everything's all prepared, Angella. Severus, I expected your portion of the task to be finished in just a few hours' time?' the old Headmaster asked from somewhere in the back of his office. He came around one of his shining, spinning, whizzing instruments and smiled at them.

Snape nodded. 'Yes, Headmaster, the potions are almost finished. I shall go and stir them one last time, now.' And he swept out of the office.

Dumbledore turned to Angella, gesturing her to come around his desk and nearer to the boxes. 'Now, there's no need to be nervous. I've finished my full research, many thanks to your Headmistress for allowing me to borrow some of her books, and they will have their full memories. I'm just glad that we found this out as soon as we did. Next Halloween would be the fifteenth anniversary, and then it would be too late.' He smiled at her encouragingly. 'I'll leave you in private to do your part; I know it's a very well-guarded ceremony.' He patted her on the back and turned to leave.

'Professor?' Angie said softly.

'Yes?'

'What if the others, Sirius, Remus, and everyone else, I mean – what if they hate me for doing this?

'Then, my dear, I would think them very dense, indeed. And not very good friends. Don't worry, they'll be happy to have them back, and I'm sure Harry will be overjoyed as well. Now, I'm off to retrieve your children for their part…'

'What?'

'Oh, nothing – just a little surprise from the four of us to you and the others. You will see.' And the old man smiled again, his twinkling blue eyes shining in the candlelight, before he left the office.

* * *

><p>Angella sighed and lifted the lid off the first coffin. Her husband's best friend lay inside, seemingly in a peaceful sleep. She lifted him gently up to a reclining position before lowering her mouth to his neck and biting. The rush of cold blood into her mouth was a bit unpleasant because it just sort of gushed instead of gently pulsing. But soon, she could sense that James' heart was slowly starting up because the red liquid was gradually getting warmer and she could feel his pulse in his neck, quickening now and then before it reached a normal speed and regulated. She pulled her mouth away; wiping the last trailing droplets from her lips and his neck, and laying him back down. His eyes fluttered open and he looked up at her in surprise.<p>

'Angie?'

'Hey-yo. Just lay there and relax. Don't strain yourself just yet. It'll take a few minutes for the holes to close up.'

'What holes?' James asked, putting his hand to his neck. 'Oh.'

'How're you feeling?' Angie asked, going to the other coffin and pulling of the lid to reveal James' red-headed beauty of a wife.

'A bit odd. Why're we in Dumbledore's office?'

'He'll have to explain everything to you, not me. I'm just here doing what he asked me to do. I wasn't even sure if this was going to work –' She had Lily in the same reclining position now. 'Excuse me just a moment.'

James' eyes grew slightly wider and his jaw dropped as he watched his best mate's wife bite _his_ wife. 'This is too weird, Ang.'

Angie held up her forefinger, tell him to hold on because she couldn't exactly talk at the moment. She wiped her mouth again, and then Lily's neck before laying her back down. 'Just lay there, now, for a bit. James, you can get up now, I think. Yes, you're closed up. Don't forget your wand – there you go. I'll just put the lid back on…there.' She straightened up and beamed at them as Dumbledore came back in, also beaming.

Lily climbed out of her box with James and Angie's help. 'What in the name of Merlin is going on?' She sounded amazed and exasperated at the same time.

'We have found a way to, not necessarily "bring back the dead", as it were, but to…how did the book put it?..."Kill them again", causing the both of you to now be Undead. Vampyres, to be specific, thanks to miss Angella, here.'

Angie smiled shyly. 'Happy to help…that's all.'

Snape walked it carrying two cups of a red liquid with a black glow hovering over it. 'It's finished, Headmaster,' he said, handing Dumbledore the two cups, who handed them to James and Lily each.

'Drink up, this will help the two of you with the tooth pain you'll experience in the next few days, and to keep you from going into a frenzy before Angella can send for some food for you.'

'You'll need it, _believe_ me,' Angie nodded.

James looked a more than a bit tense, and Severus was grinding his teeth, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Angie and Lily's eyes met meaningfully and they both nodded at each other.

Things were just about normal…well, as normal as things could be after waking up in your own coffin as a Vampyre after being underground for fourteen years. Now, all that was left was for Dumbledore's second surprise to be complete and for this horrible war to be won and almost everything would return to the way it was…. Hopefully.

_A/N: Added a bit more kerfuffling between Angie and Sirius, and some reactions from at least one of their kids. Now we know what Angie's secret task was, hope everyone liked it. One more secret to go, but the story won't end there! Thanks for reading; if you like it subscribe and/or review! Thanks! :)_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Angie paced outside the door to Dumbledore's office anxiously. Thoughts and scenarios of how everyone would react to James' and Lily's return were racing through her mind like rampant fires, ousting all other thoughts at the moment. The dull echoing of her footsteps on the flagstone floor was broken only every now and then by muffled voices on the other side of the door and her own impatient, slightly irritated sighs.

What _were_ they talking about in there? This question gnawed at her every time she heard someone's voice through the thick wooden door, before being trampled by her apprehensions of what Sirius, Remus, and everyone would think when she returned to headquarters with the Potters in toe.

James opened the door and poked his head out. 'You can come back in, now. Dumbledore's finished explaining everything. Lily just had some questions.'

Angie nodded her understanding and went into the office. She assumed it was against Vampyrik law or protocol for her to understand and know everything Dumbledore had researched and found out, but being left in the dark and still playing such a crucial role slightly offended her; yet, she shrugged it off and decided to be happy with the success of the endeavour instead of worrying about the technicalities.

The old Headmaster smiled at her almost apologetically before addressing her and the others, 'Now, the three of you will be returning to 12 Grimmauld Place – I am unable to accompany you due to prior engagements but I will be stopping by this evening, albeit briefly, to make sure that everything is going well. Angie, your children will be returning sometime this evening as well, I expect.' He stooped under his desk and retrieved three broomsticks. 'James, I assume you know how to get to London from here?'

'Yes, sir,' James replied, nodding and looking overly-enthusiastic at the broomsticks. He looked much like a small child who's received a bicycle for Christmas.

Dumbledore nodded. 'Good, now –'

'Um…I'm not riding one of those,' Angie piped up. 'Deathly afraid of heights, remember?'

'Ah…yes, Angella, you're right, terribly sorry. Would you rather ride one of the thestrals?'

Angie nodded. 'Oh, I'd much rather prefer it, Headmaster.'

'Then, it's down to the Forest we go,' he replied with a smile. 'Pity Hagrid hasn't returned yet. He'd much like to see all of you.' He shook his head sorrowfully and held the door open for them.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, just after dusk, Angie, Lily, and James touched down on the parched and unkempt grass in the courtyard across the street from the houses of Grimmauld Place. Almost on cue, the building of number 12 began to expand its way between numbers 11 and 13. They walked up the worn steps and James tapped the door with his wand; they heard the metallic clicks and clanks on the other side before the door swung slowly open onto the ominous dark hall.<p>

Stepping in behind Angie, James and Lily looked around with straining eyes.

'What is this place?' Lily whispered as Angie closed the door behind them, putting her finger to her lips to signal them to be quiet.

'C'mon, down here.' She led them down the hall to the door that lead down to the basement kitchen and held it open for them.

Once in the kitchen, they lit a few candles and the fire in the grate, before getting some bottles of butterbeer out of the cupboard ad settling down at the table.

'This is Sirius' family's house – well, it's Sirius's now, seeing as the rest of his family, save his psycho cousins, are all dead,' Angie informed them.

'Wow! No wonder he never wanted us to come visit. I see why he ran away. Did you see all the stuff up in the hall? It almost practically screamed 'Dark Arts'.' said James.

Lily nodded looking around at the hanging pots and pans.

'From what I gather, everyone's been attempting to spruce it up, make it fit to live in again,' Angie said before the kitchen door opened and Remus walked in.

He looked at his sister and went to wave before catching sight of James and Lily; his hand fell limply to his side and his mouth sprung open in disbelief. 'What the fuck.-?'

'Now, before you fly off the handle,' said Angie getting up and holding her hands up to try to calm her twin, 'let me explain a few things. I can't give you all the details because they weren't given to me, but I _can_ tell you what I know. Ok?'

Remus nodded but still looked disbelieving.

Angie took a deep breath. 'Okay…well, from what I understand, Dumbledore borrowed some books from Headmistress Vivika at the Academy to do some research, and the bits and pieces that I know he found out are – according to several books, Wizarding body-preservation for funeral visitation and burial lasts an unnecessarily long time, fifteen years to be exact. Now, why, I have _no_ _idea_, but that's what the books said. I remembered reading something about it when I was still at school when Dumbledore mentioned it to me. And said preservation works so well for so long that everything stays fresh – not alive, because that would require the blood pumping and the heart going, like a coma – but fresh enough for the belladonna antigen in Vampyres' saliva to still take effect, so when it comes in contact with the blood, it causes to blood to start acting 'alive', for lack of a better term, again, and then the antigen reaches the heart so it starts pumping and blood reaches the brain and other organs and there you have it –'

'So…so…you….you…you _bit_ them?' Remus stuttered, looking at the Potters with utter shock reading across his features.

'Yes.'

'Oh.' Remus nodded and sat down exhaustedly. 'Who else knows?'

Angie took a seat next to him. 'The Trips, Dumbledore, Snivellus, and I think McGonagall, know. And me, obviously.' She fidgeted a little. 'Where's Sirius?' She tried to sound offhanded and conversational.

'Upstairs being pissy because you left and then Dumbledore came and got the kids for something and wouldn't tell anyone what it was, and I think that was the final straw. I think he feels, not only left out, but maybe slightly abandoned. I don't think he was expect you to come back – like 'work with Dumbledore' was some cover story to get out of here and away from him –'

'Why the hell would I want to _get away from him_? I've been away from him for fourteen years, Remus! Why does he….He always…Aaagh!' She stood up and stomped towards the door, turning when she reached it. 'I'll let you all catch up. I have a toddler-trapped-in-a-grown-man's body to go deal with. Don't worry if you hear yelling. It's just us.' And she traipsed angrily up the stairs, into the hall, and up more stairs to Sirius's mother's room.

* * *

><p>She didn't bother to knock, just walked it, slamming the door behind her and crossing her arms angrily, staring at the passed-out, sprawled-out figure of her husband, apparently drunk, on his mother's bed. She sighed angrily, but her expression softened a bit when he stirred sleepily, rolling onto his side, hugging an empty bottle of Firewhiskey to him and looking much like a small child laying there, his hair laying gracefully across his face.<p>

_A/N: Sorry, I know it's terribly short and possibly long-awaited, at least it took longer than I had planned. My Muse is on strike again, and I'm at a loss of what to write next. I'm thinking of a love scene between Angie and Sirius, but I'm not sure where to place it. Subscribe and review, please! Thanks for reading!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

_A/N: This isn't a song-fic, but there are some songs in this chapter, and possibly the next one. And this chapter may make you squirm. Just so you guys know. : ) Read and review and subscribe, please! Thanks._

Angie walked to the side of the bed opposite Sirius' prone figure and crawled slowly onto the bed, trying to be quiet and move the bed as little as possible so as not to wake him. He looked so peaceful lying there that she just wanted to look at him for a bit. At this, their wedding song popped into her head and she started singing –

'I could stay awake just to hear you breathing / Watch you smile while you are sleeping, while you're far away and dreaming / I could spend my life in this sweet surrender / I could stay lost in this moment forever / Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure / Don't wanna close my eyes / I don't wanna fall asleep / 'Cause I'd miss you, babe, and I don't wanna miss a thing / 'Cause even when I dream of you, the sweetest dream would never do / I'd still miss you, babe, and I don't wanna miss a thing'

At this, Sirius started stirring in his sleep and she stopped singing, gently brushing his hair out of his face and kissing his cheek. His eyes fluttered open sleepily and he looked up at her smirking.

'I love that song.'

'Me, too, love.'

'I thought you'd gone.' He looked sad, slightly pouty, and she loved it. He could be so adorable when he pouted – when he wasn't acting like a two-year-old who didn't get sweets when he wanted.

'I wasn't leaving, I just had to run out for a bit, and I'm back now. Remus said you felt abandoned.'

Sirius chuckled. 'Yeah, a bit. I thought, because we were arguing still, that you didn't want to be here anymore, and –'

She kissed him deeply to make him stop talking. He snaked his arms around her and growled into her mouth as she straddled him.

'It's been too long, Angie.' His voice was hoarse with desire.

Angie nodded. She could only imagine the battle raging within him for all those years, not being able to be with a woman, let alone her. _Then again,_ she thought, _he probably didn't have any room in his mind for those kinds of thoughts, being in that place_.

She put her hands on his chest, kissing him still more passionately as he twined his fingers in her hair. She could feel him tensing and growing hard beneath her. She pulled away, looking into his eyes which had grown dark and lustful. They stared at each other for a few moments before he bucked his hips and growled deeply. Angie giggled.

'Make love to me, Sirius,' she whispered, leaning down and nipping his neck where it met his shoulder.

He reached over hastily and grabbed his wand from the bed side table, going to lock the door and cast a _Muffliato_ charm on it, but he paused halfway between raising his wand.

'I really don't want to in my mother's bed, of all places.' He looked at her inquiringly and with slight disgust.

She nodded. 'Yeah, I think it would be a bit weird, especially with a hippogriff on the other side of the room.'

He nodded, too, and sat up, putting on hand on her back and one under her ass. 'C'mon. We'll go do this the right way.' He stood up, holding her to him, her arms draped over his shoulders and around his neck. He kissed her before opening the door and going down a flight of stairs to his old bedroom.

He flung the door shut with a snap and laid her down on his bed. She went to hastily undo his shirt, but he grabbed her hands and stopped her. 'Wait.'

She whined and pouted; she was mocking him, slightly, and he knew it. He smirked at her and leaned down to kiss her. He kissed her lips, her neck, trailed kisses along her collar bone, then began to push up her top slowly, grazing his rough fingers up her torso. She shuddered making him smirk again. He pulled her top off over her head and sat up to look at her properly.

'Damn, Angella. You're so fucking gorgeous.' He rubbed her stomach and reached around to unclasp her bra, throwing it over his shoulder to the other end of the room before leaning down to take one of her breasts hungrily into his mouth.

She moaned and arched her back into him, wanting to feel him with every inch of her body. It was driving her mad, how slow he was going, teasing her, but she had asked for it. It had always been that way, certain words meant certain things, and he always obliged fantastically.

He pulled his mouth away from her as his hands trailed down to her hips, holding them firmly and pulling her closer to his; he unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, pulling them agonizingly slowly down her legs until they were off, and dropping them on the floor beside the bed. He was pleased to see that she hadn't stopped not wearing panties.

She put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down to look into his eyes. 'I need you, Sirius,' she whispered against his lips. His mouth crashed into hers, kissing her like he couldn't get enough.

He put one hand on her hip and reached down between them with the other to rub her clit. She gasped and moaned as she grasped the blankets on either side of her, her eyes never leaving his. She felt as if she couldn't look at him long enough, couldn't memorise the way he looked well enough to look away. He put one finger into her, continuing to play, inside and out, his lust and desire growing in his pants and his eyes.

Her moans grew louder as time progressed, and she bucked her hips in time with his hand, feeling herself getting closer to the edge. Gods, he was always so good at this. He felt her tightening slowly around him, her legs getting tense, and he pulled away, unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it off to put it down with her jeans. She reached up and snaked her fingers down his chest. He still had his muscle tone, or rather had gotten it back, after escaping from prison. He undid his pants and sat back to pull them and his boxers off, dropping them at the foot of the bed behind him, before climbing back on top of her.

He put one arm under her leg and pulled it up, kissing the inside of her thigh, up to her knee, positioning himself for entry and pushing into her.

'Oh, Sirius…yes,' she moaned; she looked at the closed door. They had forgotten the silencing charm.

He looked over at the door, too. 'Shit,' he griped, grabbing his wand from up by the headboard and casting a wordless charm on the door. 'There. Now pay attention.'

She looked back up at him as he rocked, slowly at first, into her; their breaths grew more and more hoarse as he went in deeper and harder. She pulled her nails down his back making him growl in his throat. She smiled and her eyes darkened with pleasure. He leaned down and they kissed every more deeply, ever more seductively, his tongue always dominating hers, just the way she liked it.

She moaned, reaching her peak, and screaming his name before she plunged down into bliss. He pushed into her a few more times, before collapsing onto her and nuzzling into her neck, the both of them drenched in each other's sweat. She stroked and petted his hair and kissed his temple before he rolled off of her to lay on his back next to her.

'Like I said, way too _fucking_ long,' he said with a smile, breathing heavily.

'Definitely,' she replied breathily.

'D'you think we should head back down?'

'Probably. But in a little bit. I just want to lay here, for now.'

He nodded and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him.

'I love you, Ang. I'm so sorry.'

She kissed his temple again. 'I love you, too.'

She continued to pet his hair absentmindedly, staring unseeing up at the ceiling, for a few more minutes. Sighing she sat up. 'We should probably head back down before Ja – uh, Remus sends up a search party.'

Sirius' ears perked up. 'Who?'

'Remus. My _brother_.'

'No, you didn't start out saying "Remus".'

'Yes, I did.'

'No. You didn't. You were going to say James. And Remus doesn't look a _damn_ thing like James.'

'I can still get names mixed up, can't I? Come on, let's get dressed and head down.'

* * *

><p>When they reached the bottom of the stairs leading into the kitchen, they heard uproarious laughter and someone pounding on the wooden table.<p>

'…And then…and then…' gasped James hysterically before breaking off when he caught sight of Sirius. 'Hey! There he is! We wondered what was taking you guys so long, Padfoot.' He beamed at his best mate.

Sirius stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide with shock as he looked from James to Lily to Remus and back again. Angie scooted gently around and past him, trailing her hand around the small of his back as she did, and took a seat next to her brother.

'Prongs? The _fuck_ is going on in here?' Sirius asked. He seemed unable to raise his voice for utter disbelief.

'Angie bit them,' Remus replied, sounding like a small child stating the obvious.

'Angie _what_?' He looked over at his wife. 'You what?'

'I bit them. Surprise. I almost gave it away, though. I didn't think you'd catch it.'

Sirius walked around to the side of the table where James and Lily sat; James stood up as he approached, still beaming from ear to ear. He and Sirius flung their arms around each other in a tight hug, tears streaming down Sirius' face.

'I don't fucking believe it.'

'I know, mate. It's weird.'

'And you two don't look a day older! That's not fair!'

They pulled apart laughing. Lily stood up and hugged Sirius like a little sister would a big brother.

Remus got up and got out some wine from the back of the cupboard. 'I think this deserves better drink than Butterbeer, and seeing as Sirius drank the last of the Firewhiskey, and Lily doesn't like it anyway –'

'Nor I!' Angie interjected.

'Nor Angie, I think some wine is in order.' He began pouring glasses and passing them around as Tonks and Molly walked in. They both stopped dead and looked from face to face, everyone waving merrily then returning to their wine.

'Oh, Moony,' said Sirius after taking a sip, 'd'you remember that one summer when we all got together at your house? The year I met your sister?'

'And you and James had heard somewhere about a Muggle prank of dunking peoples' heads in toilets and decided to try it out on Peter? Yes, I remember.' He didn't sound half as enthusiastic as Sirius, but smiled behind his glass as James and Sirius rolled with laughter after making crude charades of their ex-friend's head being plunged into a toilet. Lily backhanded James on the chest, but couldn't help laughing herself.

'What -? How -?' Molly stuttered, still looking incredulously from person to person.

Sirius shook his head. 'I think it's probably for the best just to accept it, Molly, until everyone else gets here. That way we don't have to keep telling everyone individually what's happened.'

Mrs Weasley nodded, but skirted around the table not taking her eyes of their newest additions to the house. Tonks went over and jovially introduced herself to the Potters, almost falling face-first to the stone floor on the way, after catching her foot on the leg of Sirius' chair.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

As the days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months, the weather outside grew colder and the nights grew longer. The Trips were in and out of the house, being very secretive about where they were always going, and making Remus and Molly nervous out of fear that someone would find out where they were coming from; Sirius just seemed jealous. He sulked more and sought refuge alone in his mother's room with Buckbeak, locking the door and not even answering it for Angie.

'Let him be, Sissy. He'll get over it,' Remus had told her one night at dinner. It was just the two of them, James, and Lily. Angie had been griping all day about how childish her husband had been being recently.

'Oh, I'm not stopping him, by any means, Remy, but he needs to understand that those kids can't be contained for very long without a riot starting. He wasn't there to help me raise them and see their personalities develop, and that's really no one's fault, don't get me wrong, but he doesn't understand how they can be. They're like Marauder clones all bundled into three people and if they're kept inside too long they think they'll spontaneously combust or something and –'

A loud bang resounded somewhere above them, seemingly coming from the front hall, cutting Angie's sentence short. Everyone looked up, Remus, Lily and James drawing their wands. Angie was the first to creep towards the door leading up into the hallway.

'Shh,' she motioned to everyone behind her before quietly opening the door and leading the way stealthily upstairs.

Once in the hall, they stepped softly towards the foyer where the door could be heard sealing itself shut again, along with the wailing and screeching of Mrs Black's portrait and all the other portraits of her relatives.

Sirius came barrelling downstairs, wand drawn and almost ran full tilt into Angie and Remus.

'What the hell's going on down here?'

They all turned towards the door and saw that the troll's leg umbrella stand had been knocked over and rolled across the floor; someone dressed in deep plum robes was hastily trying to pick up the contents of the umbrella stand.

'I'm _so, so, so sorry_, you guys,' they whined.

'Tonks,' Remus sighed, sounding relieved and exasperated at the same time. He rushed forward to help her pick up the remaining contents of the stand.

Sirius went to walk towards his mother's screaming and shrieking portrait but Angie held up her hand and stepped towards the painting.

'Mom! _Shut up!_' she screamed at the witch in the painting who stopped clawing and shrieking, looking down at her.

'Angella! My dear, these – _people_,' she spat, 'have taken over my noble house!'

'I understand, Mom. But please, let me handle it,' Angie replied and pulled the curtains back over the picture frame.

The hall was eerily quiet now; Sirius had stunned all the other portraits and they had stopped wailing. When Angie turned back around, everyone but Sirius was staring at her, mouths agape, in mingled shock, awe, and slight-admiration.

Angie shrugged with a slightly-embarrassed grin as she walked back towards the kitchen door, gently pushing past everyone. 'She always liked me, for some reason,' was all she said; Remus shook his head and Sirius rolled his eyes sarcastically. Tonks was beaming.

Sirius decided to join everyone in the kitchen, and was glad he did afterwards; he and Remus and James got a lot of catching-up done over dinner. Angie and Tonks and Lily amused themselves by watching and listening to the boys' antics, roaring with laughter all the while.

After they'd all finished eating and cleaning up, James and Lily retired to the room they'd been given to go to sleep and, soon after, Angie saw Remus and Tonks heading up the stairs together, hand in hand. She smiled softly to herself at the sight; she hadn't ever thought of her brother as thinking well enough of himself to show affection for a woman, but she was glad he was now, and even more happy that it was Tonks. She let out a chuckle at the thought that, if they were to marry, her brother would also be her second cousin by marriage and she would be Sirius's second cousin by marriage.

'What was that laugh for, love?' asked Sirius looking admiringly smugly at as they made their way slowly towards the door and up the stairs.

Angie shook her head. 'Nothing.' She didn't think Remus would appreciate it too much if she told Sirius that he was seeing Sirius' cousin before he had the chance to tell him himself.

* * *

><p>Angie slept in the next morning; when she eventually got up, it was almost midday and the only other person in the house was Sirius.<p>

'Where'd everyone go?' she asked as she bustled around the kitchen making herself a cup of tea.

Sirius looked at her rather grumpily with an incredulous look on his face and grunted in reply before turning back to his newspaper.

Angie rolled her eyes. 'I wouldn't be so stick-up-the-ass, if I were you, dear.'

'And why is that?' he asked sarcastically, still hiding behind his paper.

'Because. The kids will be getting out for break soon and the whole house will be swarming with people and noise and I'd be enjoying the quiet time I have while I can –'

'Exactly. _You_ like the quiet, Angella. I'm a Marauder.'

Angie nodded slightly. 'Ah, well, I guess you're right.' She sipped her tea and let him read his _Prophet_ in peace, laughing and shaking his head every now and again.

'I really don't understand why you still read that garbage, Puppy.'

'It's always good to know what the other side is saying – keeps us informed.'

* * *

><p>The day went by rather quickly, with neither sight nor sound of hide or hair of anyone else. Angie retired early that night to read before she fell asleep. Around one in the morning, she woke up to find that Sirius still hadn't come to bed. Putting on her dressing gown, she searched the house for him before heading down to the kitchen. When she opened the door, she found the Weasley children, Harry, and Sirius sitting around the table, butterbeers in front of them, looking shell-shocked.<p>

'What's happened?' she whispered in Sirius' ear, not wanting to disturb the others.

'Arthur's been attacked on duty. We're waiting to hear from Molly,' he whispered back, not looking at her.

Angie nodded, now looking a bit shocked herself. She sat down at the other end of the table after getting herself a drink, waiting on tenterhooks with the rest.

After a few hours passing of no sound but the chinking of bottles on wood, Mrs Weasley came into the kitchen looking flustered. Everyone looked up at her expectantly, a few of the kids standing up quickly.

'He's going to be all right. They've got him at St Mungo's now. We can all go see him tomorrow.' She made her way over to Harry and gave him an emotional, rib-cracking hug. 'If it weren't for you, we might have lost him, Harry. Thank you so much,' she said through sobs and tears.

* * *

><p>That morning, Angie awoke to the sound of Sirius humming carols and Harry and the Weasleys bustling around getting ready to visit Mr Weasley at the hospital. Once she got down to the kitchen, she found her three children sitting at the opposite end of the table, crowded around a far corner, whispering excitedly.<p>

'And what are you three so happy about?' she asked conversationally, making herself a cup of tea.

'We've finished!' Doro proclaimed, sitting back in his chair with his ankles crossed on top of the table; Sirius walked in, winked at his oldest, and chuckled to himself; Angie shook her head.

Within minutes the foyer was eerily quiet, as Harry, the Weasleys, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley had left for St Mungo's. Sirius came into the kitchen, still humming 'God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs' in a creepily-joyous way, shortly followed by very disheveled-looking James and Lily, who were still wiping sleep from their eyes.

'W-where's ev-everyone ga-gone?' James yawned.

'Left for St Mungo's to go visit Arthur. He was attacked last night,' Angie answered quietly, receiving shocked looks from James and Lily.

'Molly says he's going to be fine, Prongs. It'll be alright,' Sirius commented, sitting in his usual position of heels-on-the-table-chair-on-only-its-two-back-legs at the head of the table and shook open his Daily Prophet as Angie sat a steaming cup of tea in front of him with a bowl of hot cereal.

She bustled around serving everyone else hot tea and cereal, putting vessels of milk, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in the middle of the table before tying an apron she had found in the back pantry around her waist and getting out an old rag and a bucket of hot water. When she began to scrub the counters, sink, and the end of the table that wasn't being used, Sirius chuckled and shook his head while James gawked at her like a dangerous escaped animal from some exotic zoo.

'_What_ are you doing?' he asked, awestruck.

'Cleaning,' Angie replied simply.

'What?'

'Cleaning, James. Perhaps you've heard of it. Most people do it to their houses because they like them to be, well, clean, and to look nice.'

James looked taken aback; Sirius and Lily chuckled.

'Well, yeah, I know what _cleaning_ is, but why are you doing it like that?'

'Because she can't do magic, Prongs. Don't you remember?' piped up Sirius before taking a sip of his tea. He received a smack in the face with the wet rag Angie was holding as she walked around his chair for his remark.

'I can, too, produce magic; and magic that none of you could fathom doing, I just can't do wizardry. There is a difference.'

* * *

><p>Sirius, James, and the Trips continued to watch Angie clean, while Lily eventually got up and, finding another rag in the pantry, began to help. A few hours later, they were still sitting there, watching the women clean the Muggle way, when everyone who had left walked in for lunch – or rather, walked through the kitchen door, stumbled a few paces, and finally froze with mouths agape, causing those behind them to bump into them before looking to see what was causing the traffic jam.<p>

Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had arrived in time to go see Mr Weasley, were at the front-most of the queue and Ron was the first to find his voice.

'Bloody hell,' was all he could manage.

'Well, not exactly,' was Angie's over-the-shoulder reply, which warranted a bark-like laugh from Sirius, a chuckle from James, who stepped up to his son to do some, no doubt long-awaited, sizing up and comparing, and a stern look from Lily who gave Harry a tearful wink and a smile before resuming attempting to scrub off some mould from the counter.

Moody stumped his way forward, no doubt having seen everything from behind everyone with his magical eye; Angella grumbled.

'What's going on here?' he snapped.

'We're cleaning, Alastor. Well, Lily and I are. It seems everyone else is having fun with their gawk-fest.' She tried to keep her tone level and as least-sarcastic as possible, but found it exceptionally difficult.

Moody grunted. 'I meant with...with..._them_!' He pointed shakily at Lily and James with a gnarled finger.

'Oh, that. Well, you'll have to take that up with Dumbledore. I don't have _all_ of the particulars. Suffice it to say, Moody, that there are two more like me now.' She allowed herself a pleased little smirk before tossing her rag in the bucket, drying her hands, removing her apron, and exiting the kitchen saying something about going to read in the drawing room.

_**A/N: So very, very, very, very, veryveryveryveryvery sorry it took me soooooo long to update. Finicky muse . Anyway, next chappie we'll see how Harry takes James' and Lily's return and a happy reunion scene, the whole shabang. Review, please, lovies, and you'll be my favourite-est for ever and ever and ever!**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

_**A/N: To all my readers, I am soooooooooooooooooo sososososososososososooooooo sorry it has taken me so very, awfully, terribly, horrifically, horrendously long time since I've updated, and I get two weeks off of school starting at the end of this week so I hope to be able to update at least twice or three times to make up for it. :D As always, review and subscribe and favourite! -SIMP **_

Remus could tell that Harry and his friends were in a bit more shock than they were letting on. He whispered to Sirius that he was going to go try to talk to Angie up in the drawing room about getting a few more details. Sirius nodded.

'I think that's probably a good idea. I'll see if I can't explain, at least to the kids, what's going on – how this has all come about. I think I understand enough, and I think they deserve to know at least a little bit before they get bombarded with a shit-ton of information they're not going to understand.'

'I really think you should, Padfoot. We didn't go into great detail on Vampyres when I was teaching, and I don't think they'll fully understand the elaboration of it all. Angie isn't exactly a subtle person.' Remus's face showed a tinge of worry.

'Believe me, I know exactly what you mean, Moony. You go talk to her; I'll try to sort out things here as much as I can.' Sirius stood up and walked with Remus as far as Harry, ron and Hermione. Remus continued out the kitchen door and upstairs.

When he reached the drawing room, he knocked on the door. It was slightly ajar, just enough for a chink of candlelight to be shining through.

'Sissy? May I come in?'

'If you want,' came Angie's dull reply.

She was sitting on a Victorian-esque sofa, her back to the door. Remus came around in front of her and sat down facing her.

'So. How much can you explain to me what's going on here?'

'Not very much, Remus, you know that. I don't even know all the details and whatnot. The books Dumbledore borrowed from Vivika – they're even forbidden reading to Vampyres. I can tell you as much as I know, though, I think. But only because we don't keep our...our...you know...'

Remus nodded. 'I know.'

'Well, we don't keep our secrets all to ourselves.' Angie readjusted herself on the couch and took a deep breath. 'You know that in history, Vampyres were known to, well, thought to, come out of coffins in cemeteries and graveyards and drink the blood of the living at night while they slept.'

Remus nodded.

'That's not entirely true. I don't know all of the logistics, but what I do know, is that, _apparently_, we are given the power to raise the dead, but only those of the Wizarding community because of the way Wizards preserve their dead. None of this chemical shit, no formaldehyde and crap. It's all magical preservation. Well, from what I understand of it, from Dumbledore's slight hints here and there, Wizarding magical body-preservation works so well that the blood actually stays fresh in the body for up to fifteen years. I didn't know this or even figure it out until just recently; had I known, I would have said something or suggested it sooner. James and Lily remember everything – even who they used as Secret-Keeper. Of course, everyone in the Order knows now too, even without them being here, but we wouldn't've had proof of that without them.'

'Not unless Peter came forward and said so, but even he's not _that_ stupid,' interjected Remus.

Angie nodded. 'Exactly. But I think that the kids, my kids, had something to do with Peter. They won't tell me what they're job was from Dumbledore, and I don't expect them to. Like their father, they're people of their word. If they don't have their word, they have nothing. But you know, of all people, that I knew who the Potter's Secret-Keeper was, too...' Her eyes welled up with tears. She tried to hold them back, but they broke through like a great river busting through a dike. 'I was _there_, Remus! I was there when he told Him where to find them! And I did nothing! I couldn't do anything! I had to protect _my_ family, and in doing so, others, who I considered part of my family, paid the penalty! I don't know how Sirius feels about it all, still. I don't know if Harry knows about my part in it all, and I hope to the gods that Sirius isn't down there telling him right now. I don't even think Prongs and Lily know. Gods, I hope not!'

'Shhh.' Remus hugged his sister to him. She began to sob uncontrollably into his chest.

'It was all my fault, Remus! If it was anyone's, it was mine! And I didn't do a damn thing! If they knew...hic...if they knew, they'd hate me, I know it.'

'No one else has to know, Ang. No one.' Remus wanted to reassure her, he wanted to promise her that no one else would ever find out about the sacrifices she had had to make in order to protect Sirius and their children. He knew he couldn't make that promise, but he felt like he had damn well better try...for all their sakes.

* * *

><p>Fifteen or twenty minutes later, he had convinced Angie to go back down to the kitchen. He was sure that someone was cooking by now by the smell wafting up through the house. And, by the smell, he was pretty sure it was Molly.<p>

Sirius looked up and smiled when Angie and Remus entered the kitchen, but his smile fell and faded when he saw that his wife's eyes were red and puffy. She'd been crying and he felt like shit that he hadn't been there to comfort her. He stood and stopped Remus as he passed him, Angie taking a seat to Sirius' left.

'What happened?' he asked in a hushed whisper.

Remus shook his head. 'You'll have to talk to her later, in private. She's a bit upset and nervous now that all the kids are here, especially Harry.'

Sirius nodded, his countenance determined. He sat back down and, taking Angie's hand, he squeezed it and gave her a comforting look. Angie smiled weakly at him and quickly took her eyes away from him. She was starting to feel like an intruder, someone who shouldn't be sitting around this table, with all these Order members, in Order Headquarters.

* * *

><p>After dinner, Sirius took Angie up to his room. Once inside, she sat down on the bed, he closed the door behind him and turned to look her over and judge her mood. He decided that it would most likely be easier to get her to open up after a bit of personal-time between the two of them.<p>

He had been wanting to have her again since the first time, but she had gone to bed earlier than he almost every night and slept much later than he could stand to remain sitting or lying still. He walked slowly over to her and knelt down in front of her; her eyes were still a bit red from crying. To him, she was at her most beautiful when she was at her most vulnerable. She had always put up such a hard front, an indestructible facade that he had sought to break through since he had met her in his fifth year at Hogwarts.

He cupped his fingers under her chin and brought her head up slightly so she was looking at him. 'I love you, Angella,' he said softly.

She smiled faintly. 'I love you, too.'

He couldn't hold himself back any longer. His lips crashed into hers in what they both felt was the most passionate kiss they'd ever shared since their marriage-night. Sirius wanted to help her relive that as best he could. He gently lay her back on the bed, his right hand supporting himself just above her left shoulder, his left hand holding the small of her back, slightly pulling her towards him. Angie's back arched slightly and she moaned into him.

He moved slightly and kissed behind her ear, sending shivers down her spine like it always did. Sirius grinned a bit to himself and his triumph thus far; he hadn't thought she would have gone for sex, let alone love-making, after being as upset as he was sure she was. But now, she was putty in his hands and he was going to take full advantage of it for as long as she'd let him.

Sirius slowly kissed from behind her ear down her neck and along her collar bone, bringing his left hand around from her back to her stomach, pushing it under her shirt and up her torso. Angie ran her fingers through his hair and pulled slightly, causing him to moan hoarsely into her neck. She had hoped he would take the hint, and, indeed, he got the message.

He straightened up, pulling her into a sitting position and tore her shirt off over her head before pushing her back on the bed a bit forcefully and unbuttoning her trousers and tearing them off, as well. He ripped his own shirt off, tearing away a few buttons from the top in the process, and straddled her. He looked down on her, marvelling at the gorgeous woman beneath him. How – _how_ had he managed that? Well, it wasn't important now. Now, he was going to ravish her and she wasn't going to get a choice about it; afterward, he would convince her to talk.

Angie ran her hands up the side of his ribs and scratched her nails down his chest, bringing him back to the current situation. She unbuttoned his jeans before he stood up and took them off. He pulled her up again and unclasped her bra and threw it in the corner with her shirt and pants, before mounting her again. He didn't give her a chance to get comfortable before pushing himself into her core. Her back arched more so than before and moaned loudly causing Sirius to remember that he'd forgotten the Silencing Charm again, but he didn't give a rat's ass, he realised.

He thrust in and out of her, she writhing and screaming and moaning underneath him, but he could feel himself getting closer to the brink and when he finally did jump over the edge, so did she and he collapsed on top of her, holding her close to him, not wanting to let her go.

It took Angie a while to get her breath back; once she did, she stroked his hair and, still breathing a bit heavily, looked down at him as best she could. 'What was that for?' she laughed.

Sirius chuckled breathlessly. 'I told you: I love you.'

'Well, I love you, too, Sirius Black, but I don't know what I did to deserve that.'

'I just wanted to make you happy, Ang. I only ever wanted to make you happy.' He looked up at her from laying his head on her chest. 'What's wrong, Angella? It's not like you to be so depressed. A bit hard, yes; angry, sure; but never sorrowful. What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?'

She couldn't look at him now. He wanted her to talk about all those years ago, to get answers, but she found that she wasn't ready to give them, as much as she thought she was.

'When you decide to sit down and tell me about Azkaban, and what you felt there, I will tell you what's bothering me. We are broken people, Sirius, but we have to help hold each other up – for our friends, their children, and _our_ children.' With that, she gently rolled him off of her and went over to the wardrobe, rummaging around for her nightdress and over-gown.

Sirius propped himself up on his elbow, lying on his side, and watched her before she left the room to go back down to the kitchen and get some tea.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9**_

_**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to **javalon14, **who's inspired me with her Sirius fanfics, given me advice, and never ceases to deliver some of what I view as the greatest fanfiction literature I've read thus far. Hope you like it, J. Thanks for taking this journey, as slow and arduous as it's been, with me. And thanks to all my other readers. Favourite, subscribe and review, lovies!**_

Remus and Tonks were to only two in the kitchen when Angie got down there to make her tea. They were sitting at the corner farthest from the door, talking in hushed voices, heads together, both with the cheesiest smiles on their faces. Angie cleared her throat when she walked in, to announce herself; Remus and Tonks broke apart immediately, looking away from each other, eyes searching the room feigning interest in the floor and wall-panelling, and turning as red as radishes. Angie chuckled and shook her head as she got the kettle down from the cupboard and started filling it with water from the tap.

'I think you ran everyone else out of the house, Ang,' Remus said after a while. Angie turned around to look at him: he was trying to look stern, but she could see and had heard the playfulness on his face and in his voice.

'You'll have to take that up with your friend, Remy. It's not my fault,' she smiled back.

'I just might do that,' Remus laughed. 'That's why Dora and I stayed down here – almost far enough from the source.'

'Earplugs work nicely, you know,' Angie retorted jokingly.

When she'd finished making her tea, she sat down across from Remus and Tonks, staring at no particular spot on the table while she sipped her tea.

'So,' she said after some time, 'you didn't tell him anything?' She looked up at her brother. She tried to keep her expression indifferent, or at least soft, but he could see a fire in her eyes that flared up when she was angry.

'I didn't think it was my place to say, Angella. What happened between you two, is between you two. You don't need me as a third wheel.'

'You became part of the situation and not a third wheel when you gave us refuge at your apartment, Remus. I would have thought that over the last year or so since you two have been talking again, you would have told him at least something.'

'The subject never came up.' He was trying to be covertly defensive; she wasn't buying it.

'Bring it up! Pipe up, Remus John; not everyone will bring up the subject they are the most interested in...'

'I wouldn't say he was interested in it.'

Angie huffed agitatedly. She wasn't going to play verbal tennis match right now, least ways not in front of Tonks.

Sirius and the triplets walked in at that point; Alli was holding a _Daily Prophet_ in one hand, and an excruciatingly long piece of parchment in the other. Sirius looked even happier than he had half an hour before.

Alli smacked the newspaper onto the table in front of his mother. 'Take a look at _that_,' he said triumphantly. Angie noticed that all three of her children had the smuggest of countenances. And, for the love of the gods, they looked like their father.

Angie looked down at the front page of the paper. Her jaw dropped. There, in moving black and white, was a picture of her children, the Minister of Magic, and...Peter Pettigrew.

'Wha...How...I...heh,' was all she could manage. Remus pulled the paper towards him, spun it around, and immediately looked stupified. He gawped at the picture, up at his sister, over to his nephews and niece, and back down at the paper – all the while, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. It seemed he had forgotten how to speak.

'That's an advanced copy,' Doro piped up from a corner close to the door. He had his arms crossed and his prideful expression had changed to irritation. 'Tomorrow morning, wizards and witches everywhere will know the truth about Dad and Pettigrew. He was interrogated under the influence of Veritaserum before being given the Dementor's Kiss and then shipped off to Azkaban. There's also been a congratulatory celebration scheduled for tomorrow at Hogwarts –'

'We'll finally get to play a set for you, Daddy!' Trili interrupted. Doro glared at her. 'What's crawled up your ass?' she asked him, affronted.

'Nothing.' He jerked his head to the side so he wasn't looking at anyone, but his face became more stone-like. He'd seen Remus and Tonks holding hands under the table.

Angie stared him down knowingly for a bit before giving up for the time being.

'Well,' said Sirius after taking a gulp of Angie's tea, 'I feel like a walk –'

'No!' chorused everyone in the room. He jumped.

'Why the hell not?'

'That's an _advanced copy_ of the paper! No one knows yet except for us and the other Order members and Dumbledore. You go walking out of the house now, something's liable to happen!...'

'Like what? A citizen's arrest? C'mon now, Angie, I just want to go for a walk!'

'No. Now quit whining. I stopped having to deal with selfish toddlers twelve years ago.'

The next morning, Sirius was the first one awake. He kept jumping on the bed he and Angie shared, banging on Remus's bedroom door, and shaking the triplets awake. When everyone had finally had enough and dragged themselves out of bed, it was well past eleven o'clock in the morning and McGonagall was waiting for them in the foyer.

Angie came down the stairs first, yawning widely, followed by Sirius.

'Oh, Professor,' she said sleepily. 'Wasn't expecting you.'

'I've come to collect you all for the party,' she said cheerily. She almost looked like she was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

'What, now? Lemme get some food first,' came Alli's mid-yawn remark as he ambled slowly down the stairs.

After everyone had grabbed a quick bite, they had Flooed to the teacher's lounge off the corridor of the Great Hall. Angie could hear innumerable students talking excitedly in the entrance and the Great Hall. She wondered if Harry and his friends knew yet.

Everything went uncannily dark in the Great Hall and whispers erupted before dying down. She heard Doro open the introduction to the song with his electric guitar, shortly joined by Trili on drums and Alli on bass. She waited for her cue before running out and setting of the pyro and starting the entertainment.

During the entire concert-part of the celebration, she kept her eyes on Sirius who was seated with Remus, Harry, Hermione, Ron and the other Weasleys at Gryffindor table. They ended the set with _For Those About to Rock_ by AC/DC in honour of the Order members, most of which were there. Then Dumbledore thanked them and raised his hands for attention and silence.

'Now, I would like to welcome the Minister of Magic, Mr Cornelius Fudge, here to congratulate and apologise to Sirius Black for wrongful conviction without trial and imprisonment. Then, there is a surprise for everyone.'

Fudge's speech was quite long, but it was everything Angie had always sworn she'd make him say if she had had to torture it out of him with her bare hands – that he was sorry to her and her children for robbing them of Sirius; that he was sorry to Sirius for robbing him of his freedom and for causing the entire Wizarding community to fear and despise him when he was innocent. Then he described how Peter was now in Azkaban, a soulless shell of a person, and recounted what had really happened the day after the Potter's deaths.

With that, Dumbledore nodded to someone in the back of the Hall by a side door. The door was opened and out walked Lily and James. A collective gasp could be heard as a monstrous tapestry unraveled from the ceiling behind Fudge. The couple walked up behind the Minister, tapped him on both his shoulders, and smiled hugely at him once he turned around. Fudge looked near to fainting and had to be lead from the Hall. It was later heard that Madame Pomfrey had to give him a bit of black tea with firewhiskey.

The celebration and entertainment went on for the rest of the day and, after all the students had gone to bed, some of the teachers and all of the Order members present went down to Hogsmeade, to the Three Broomsticks, to reminisce.


End file.
